CHALLENGE
Urban planning decisions are often made far from residents, using abstract data sets.
COMPLETED PROJECT · CITIES
Living City
Small Characters, Big Decisions
An interactive table that turns sustainable urban planning into a tangible, participatory experience.
APPROACH
With İZPA, we built an interactive table combining wooden objects, top-down projection mapping and real-time simulation.
RESULT
After the exhibition at Kültürpark Atlas Pavilion, the table has been on permanent display at the İzQ Digital Experience Centre.
FORMAT
Interactive table · tangible user interface (TUI)
PARTNERS
İzmir Planning Agency (İZPA) · Yaşar University Media Centre / VRLab Creative Studio
EXHIBITION
Between Two Lines · Kültürpark Atlas Pavilion
DATES
5 June – 5 July
SPONSOR
İzQ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre
SIZE
150 × 240 cm interactive table
TECHNOLOGY
Unreal Engine · projection · object tracking
PERMANENT DISPLAY
İzQ Digital Experience Centre
FIELD RECORDING · 0:35
01 / PROJECT
Can you build a liveable city?
Living City redesigns how citizens, students and urban planners relate to complex urban dynamics. By pairing smart wooden objects with top-down projection mapping and real-time simulations, the table becomes a living, responsive ecosystem right under participants' hands.
Visitors place wooden cubes (buildings), triangular prisms (trees), oval cylinders (cars) and cylinders (bicycles) on the table; the sun and rain at the table's centre respond to every object.
→Place objects, watch the reflections.
→Let the table guide you.
→Relate objects to one another.
02 / RULES OF INTERACTION
Every placement, a decision.
01
Dynamic urban flow
When housing, transport and commerce objects are placed on the table, digital residents adapt their daily routines and travel routes in real time.
02
Ecological balance and feedback
Every zoning decision instantly produces environmental feedback. Green corridors clean the air and boost biodiversity; dense construction without a green buffer creates a heat island and traffic congestion.
03
Collective impact
Multiple participants interact with the table at once. The cumulative effect of individual interventions makes visible the delicate balance between economic growth, transport accessibility and ecological sustainability.
03 / MICROSIMULATIONS · SCENARIO SANDBOX
Complex policy parameters, one touch away.
Every module's indicator on the table to the left updates live.
04 / TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE
Physical + digital: phygital.
L3 · SOFTWARE
Real-time simulation engine
Character behaviour, environmental feedback and indicator computation.
L2 · PROJECTION
High-lumen precision projection mapping
A live layer projected from above onto the table surface and around the objects.
L1 · OBJECT
Wooden blocks with spatial tracking markers
A tactile interface usable by participants of any age, with no technical barrier.
05 / THE LANGUAGE OF WOODEN FORMS
A warm material, a living ecosystem.
Steering an advanced digital ecosystem through a familiar material — wood — makes the interaction more natural, surprising and enjoyable. Each shape triggers a different response in the city.
CUBE · BUILDINGS
Raises the city's temperature and causes flooding.
TRIANGULAR PRISM · TREES
Absorbs water, easing the ecosystem.
OVAL CYLINDER · CARS
Brings smog down over the city.
CYLINDER · BICYCLES
Clears the smog and brings nature's sounds back to the city.
06 / EXHIBITION · BETWEEN TWO LINES
Met İzmir residents at Kültürpark Atlas Pavilion.
Opened to visitors in the "Direction · Tools for Thinking Together" section of the "Between Two Lines" exhibition organised by the İzmir Planning Agency, sponsored by the İzQ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre.
KÜLTÜRPARK ATLAS PAVILION · İZMİRİZPA · İZMİR METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY · VRLAB CREATIVE STUDIO
07 / PERMANENT DISPLAY
After the exhibition: İzQ Digital Experience Centre.
When the exhibition closed, the Living City table went on permanent display at the Digital Experience Centre of its sponsor, the İzQ Entrepreneurship and Innovation Centre. Visitors can still experience the table there.
